In electronic devices, such as mobile phones, hand-held computers or PDAs (personal digital assistants), data transmission may be implementable between a board having, for example, a display mounted thereon, and a board having, e.g., a keyboard and a CPU (central processing unit) arranged thereon. This data transmission is effected, for example, via an optical fiber extending through a hinge by means of which the two boards are mechanically connected to one another. For data transmission, an optical transmitter is mounted on the board associated with the keyboard, the transmitter coupling light into the optical fiber, while an optical receiver which converts an optical signal emerging from the fiber to an electrical signal is mounted on the board which has the display arranged thereon. The electrical signal is received by the display, is evaluated and, subsequently, an appropriate content is presented on the display.
Due to large numbers of pieces of such cost-sensitive devices, such as mobile phones or PDAs, in which optical data transmission is performed from board to board, connector modules for optical data transmission are faced with a demand for low manufacturing cost and small footprint.